The noble teamwork
by Rey Bee
Summary: Teamwork exercises: watch the two members of team Jiraiya: Hyuuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku in their efforts to cooperate smoothly, led by their sensei's not too creative instructions. And why does Orochimaru even care...? Meanwhile their third teammate, Minato, has another mission to accomplish, which isn't as easy as it should be. Wanna know why? Ask Tsunade... UP: Epilogue ready!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! Ever wondered who Minato's teammates were? That's my guess. Enjoy;)**

Have you ever noticed how typical the shape of clouds is? No? Well, that means that you probably aren't a dreamful person, as such things are remarked mostly by dreamers. It's not that it's a bad thing not to be one. In fact, it's very practical. VERY. Believe me. And if you don't believe me, then believe Namikaze Minato, the biggest dreamer in his team, in his former Academy class and, probably, in the whole Leaf Village.

Well, the shape of clouds… Yes, exactly. Did you ever notice that each and every cloud passing over your head looks like a ship? Or a boat, if you prefer it this way? No? No worries, then. You know, Minato did notice that and just because of this he was called a _dreamhead_ , a _weirdo_ , and an _impractical_ person… Yeah. Kinda rough.

But really, what would you do if you came early for your genin team's meeting? There's no one there apart from you and the weather is just so, SO beautiful? It's obvious that you just lay down on a bridge rail and look at the puffy ships floating above you. Isn't it?

"Fool! Watch where you are going!"

Oh, sure. It's over. PEOPLE are coming. The very specific ones.

The blonde sighed deeply and shot one glance in the two newcomers' direction. Just when he managed to relax a little… they had to appear. He decided to ignore them as long as possible and to concentrate again on the clouds.

"Me? Watch where YOU're going, you sullen idiot!"

His teammates have arrived. Oh, joy.

"Speak for yourself!" (Dear reader, meet Hyuuga Hiashi.)

"I AM speaking for myself!" (Dear reader, meet Uchiha Fugaku.)

"Oh, you are just pathetic with all that superiority of yours!"

"And who's saying that, mister I-AM-so-noble-and-amazing?!"

"I AM noble, you fool."

"I'm NOBLE as well."

"And you mishandle all your nobility with your stupidity."

"And YOU are RIDICULOUS with that sublime language of yours!"

"SUBLIME."

"Guys… have some mercy, would you…?" Minato covered his face with his palms.

"See, even HE has enough of it!"

"He was talking to you, you pathetic…"

And so on… and so on… Really, it has already become an everyday routine for our poor little blonde.

Everyday. Routine.

He plugged his ears with his hands, hoping that it would help him just a little. But, of course, it didn't really, like usual. All he had left was that HOPE that wasn't abandoning him even for a single second during his team's meetings. Hope, that sensei would come soon.

He, he, hey… yeah, good joke, Minato, really, that was just great.

He spent the next five minutes trying to observe passing clouds and listening to Fugaku's and Hiashi's yells. It was impossible NOT TO listen to what they were saying, even if he knew it already by heart. In short, Fugaku considered Hiashi to be ridiculous, while Hiashi claimed that Fugaku was pathetic.

Yeah. And to think that he was placed in a team with the heirs of two most prestigious clans in Konoha. _Congratulations, Minato!_ he still remembered smiles and pats on his shoulder. _It's a great opportunity for you! To got into a team with two noble boys, when you're from a civilian family… It seems that the Hokage does see your great potential! And what's more, you happened to get such a significant person as a sensei!_

At the moment, the two noble boys were arguing like two hungry preschoolers before lunch. And about his sensei… He looked lazily at his watch to check the time. Then, with a heavy sigh, he stood up and started to walk towards the onsen. Good it wasn't that far away from their meeting spot.

It took him ten minutes to get to the onsen area, find Jiraiya, the legendary sannin (who was occupying himself with his famous _research_ ) and drag him to the place where his two respectful (and NOBLE) teammates had started to beat the hell out of each other during his short absence. He spared one look at his sensei, only to find an expression of utter pouting, and decided to separate the two boys by himself. Finally, almost leading each one of them three by their hands, he made everybody seat on the grass and joined the little circle at the end, eyeing his sensei expectantly.

"FINE" Jiraiya growled at him, unhappy. "I'm here, are you satisfied now?

"You're late" Fugaku glared at him.

"Just a little" the man shrugged. "It's not that YOU were ready, when I came here.

"When Minato dragged you here, you wanted to say, sensei" Hiashi noticed blankly.

"He didn't DRAG me. If you want to see, what _dragging_ means, I will happily show you. Brat."

"Whatever" Fugaku rolled his eyes. "Can we start the training already? My father wanted me to be home early so that he could show me some Uchiha clan's jutsu, so we better hurry."

"Yes, it would be improper, if you were late for some Uchiha training…"

"Say it again and I'll show you how this is SOME Uchiha training…!"

"Shut the hell up, you two" Jiraiya hissed through greeted teeth. "We will do EVERY SINGLE exercise I planned for today and I will decide when the training ends, so you better stick it to your heads-"

"As if you spared a single minute to PLAN anything for today, ero-sensei."

"I DID."

"Did you?" Hiashi eyed him doubtfully.

"Yes, I did. Today we, or more exactly, YOU will be dealing with a bunch of teamwork exercises as to improve your terrible teamwork. You need it, no doubts…"

"We've already done thousands of teamwork exercises, what do you want more?" Fugaku looked at him heavily.

"Oh, today it's gonna be something totally NEW" the sannin grinned at the Uchiha evilly. "See, whatever you may think, I DO observe you during our training and I DO notice your progress…"

"What a relief" Hiashi muttered.

"AND I DO notice your REGRESS as well" Jiraiya finished clearly. "By which I mean that you" he pointed at the Hyuuga "and you" now he looked at Fugaku "get one point below zero for ten above zero possible for your cooperation with each other. Or, to say it straight, you don't cooperate in a slightest. So today, tomorrow, after tomorrow and so on we will work on it or else you'll both die on our next C-rank mission. Clear? Of course it's clear. So-"

"Are you saying that we won't get any C-rank mission in three days…?!" Fugaku glared at him angrily, Sharingan activated.

"Not quite. I'm a bit of a realist in that matter, so you won't get any C-rank at least for the next two-three weeks."

"WHAT?!" two pairs of eyes, one red and one white, stared at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, you heard me. Now deal with it."

"Are you joking, you intend to keep us in the village just for some ridiculous teamwork exercises?!" Hiashi almost stood up.

"No, I'm keeping you in the village for some very important teamwork exercises" Jiraiya eyed them sharply, suddenly serious. "Teamwork is a base of every shinobi activity, so if you can't handle something as simple as cooperation, then I would quit the ninja business if I were you. Let me repeat it then: we stay in the village until you and Fugaku learn to work as a team, and you better learn it quickly and stop keeping Minato back. Am I clear enough?"

He received two quiet hums from both very unhappy boys. Then he grinned widely.

"So guess how you're gonna improve your teamwork. Any suggestions?"

Fugaku and Hiashi looked at each other and then eyed their sensei with pained expressions.

"No, just not-"

"D-rank missions, why of course!" the sannin clapped his hands smiling. In return he got two groans and one little sigh. "Oh, don't make such a sad face, Minato" he addressed his quiet student. "It doesn't concern you."

"What do you mean, sensei…?"

"Right, WHAT do you mean, sensei?" Fugaku repeated already pissed.

"I've never said Minato needs any teamwork exercise, have I? As far as I remember, he cooperate very well with both of you, and you, surprisingly, are able to cooperate with him as well! So when you two go on our beloved D-rank missions, Minato will treat me for some yummy food somewhere in the village."

"What" Hiashi pierced him with his byakugan.

"You heard me" he said dismissively and stood up. "I got up too late to drop by the Hokage Tower for the mission scroll, so you two go there now and take it. Minato, what're we eating today? I'm starving."

"You're kidding" Fugaku huffed angrily.

"No, in fact I wasn't more serious since the day I became your sensei three months ago. Have a nice day, brats" he waved at them and got away from the spot, dragging very unsure Minato by his arm.

"Sensei… It's gonna be a disaster" the boy muttered unconvinced.

"Of course it's gonna be a disaster" Jiraiya shrugged. "That's why I believe that they will finally get a hold of themselves and that they'll start to cooperate in ANY way, really."

"But sensei…"

"You worried that you mission statistics will become poor? Don't be, those missions won't count for you."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"It's a wrong question, you know" the man mumbled. "The right one is: do you have a better one?"

Minato wiped his eyes tiredly and finally shook his head slowly. He then felt his sensei's hand on his shoulder.

"Well, for now, let's not worry about them, how is that? Now you can treat me for something good in some dango shop or…"

"I'm not treating you."

"Fine" he gritted his teeth. "I'm gonna treat you. And after that you'll show me that jutsu you're working on."

"It's called rasengan, sensei."

"Give me ten years kid, and I'll remember that."

 **A/N: Hope you liked it! Next chapter soon! Please review;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: To answer a question I got, I'm not quite sure how old the boys are. I read some fanfics about Minato's generation and authors were making them graduate at ten, but I stick with twelve. So yeah, they're twelve:)**

 **The second question: is Orochimaru around? Yeah, he probably is. Or yes, of course he is, but I didn't think about putting him into action here… BUT in fact it's a good idea, so thank you, my dear reviewer, it's possible that the Snake will appear:D**

 **Here we go with the next chapter! Enjoy and have fun:)**

 _Three days later…_

"Sensei."

"…"

"Jiraiya-sensei."

"Mmm…"

"Get up."

"Nah…"

"Up, sensei."

"Go to hell…"

"GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED."

"My, blondie. And I thought you're calm and kind-hearted."

"Now."

"Why…? It's still morning."

"It's two p.m.."

"Already…? Maaan, I think I overslept a little today…"

"And yesterday. And the day before yesterday."

"…who cares."

"The Hokage."

"Because…?"

"Because two of your genin students failed their fourth D-rank mission in a row, you've been summoned to the Hokage Tower six times and you never deign to show up." Minato opened a window violently and left his sensei's bedroom.

Just fifteen minutes ago Sandaime (or Sarutobi-sensei, like Lord Third always wanted Minato to call him) found him in a dango shop, where he was sitting and chatting with Shikaku. He greeted him with his usual smile and asked him calmly, where his respectful sensei was at that moment. Minato's eye twitched a little, when he found out that Jiraiya STILL didn't appear in the Hokage office. He apologized to Lord Third for his sensei's irresponsible behavior and promised him to find the pervert as fast as possible. He managed to get to the onsen in five minutes, he needed another five to check on the river area and at the end he headed to Jiraiya's apartment, only to find the man fully asleep in his bed.

He wasn't gentle when he tried to wake him up. No, Jiraiya-sensei would need a new lock, a new glass, a new shoe (only one) and it would be good if he let his bedclothes dry up a little before he lie down to bed again.

"Hey, Minato…" of course it was his lazy sensei, who finally got out of his room. "Old man really called for me six times?"

"Yes."

"I remember two."

"Your bad, sensei."

"And those brats failed again?"

"I told you that leaving them alone with it won't do any good."

"Well I can't be too overprotective…"

"You're UNDERprotective."

"Please, you're all twelve, kid. And genin, so technically you're adults. You shouldn't need a supervision of some lazy idiot in something as simple as D-ranks." He approached the fridge and took out a milk bottle, then drunk half of the liquid in one gulp. "Damn it, I didn't buy any groceries…"

"You did two days ago, I remember."

"Yeah, but Tsunade dropped by yesterday."

"…so?"

"So… she DID drop by yesterday" he shrugged like it was obvious. "You've no Idea how much a woman can eat."

"More than you?"

"FOUR times more than me, you unexperienced brat. And never ever let Tsunade and Hiruzen-sensei in your house at the same time. Ever."

"I'll remember it."

"For your own good" he found a carrot in a drawer, eyed it critically and threw it out. "I'll ask sensei if he has some food when I get to the Tower. You coming?"

"Why not. It's funny when he scolds you" he smirked at his sensei, who shot him a glare, but didn't say anything at this innocent comment.

"What did you do to the lock?" the man asked when he tried to lock the door.

"I don't know. I just wanted it to click open."

"…you owe me one."

"You owe me a rescue from an ANBU group breaking in your house on the Hokage's order full-armed in the middle of the night. So I guess we're even."

"Hmpf…"

They got to the Hokage Tower half an hour later (because Jiraiya WAS hungry and he meant it) and were called in Lord Third's office almost instantly. The dark-haired man eyed his former student wearily.

"Jiraiya."

"Yo, sensei. I've heard you've some business with me or somethin'."

"It's something more than just SOME business" he muttered and sighed heavily. "Thank you, Minato. Jiraiya, do you know that if your student here was paid each time I send him to look for you, he would afford a nice house with a garden by now?"

"Oh, give me a break. So what, I am here now."

"NOW."

"Yes, I'm here NOW, sensei, can you PLEASE tell me what's all of this about?" he almost pouted, slightly annoyed. Minato hid a grin.

"All of this is about your two students, who've failed five D-ranks for the last three days-"

"Hold on a sec, blondie said something about four failed D-ranks…"

"Because when I talked to him forty minutes ago it was still four failed D-ranks."

"Oh, oops. It sucks, right?" he smiled stupidly.

"It actually does and I'm pretty sure you have no idea just how much it SUCKS" Hiruzen didn't share his good mood. "They destroyed two gardens, traumatized two dogs and just a moment ago I found out that the theatre hall that they were assigned to clean up is far messier than it was just an hour ago."

"THEY suck. Troublesome brats…" he mumbled quietly.

"Would you explain to me just WHY aren't you supervising them?"

"Because they're big boys who don't need a nanny."

"Apparently, they're not" Sandaime looked at him heavily. "I can't afford them failing any other D-rank for various reasons, so I expect that you'll accompany them from now on. It was you who assigned them for so many missions after all."

"I assigned them for so many missions because I want them to cooperate with each other" Jiraiya spoke clearly.

"And you think they won't cooperate if you are around?"

"Em…"

"Because I think they will. Much better than they're now in fact. Not that it's that difficult to cooperate better than this" he muttered to himself. "Anyway you better take care of them or next time you'll not deal with me, but with two clanheads"

"Oh no, not a chance" Jiraiya's eyes widened visibly. "Never again in my life will I talk to those two. Minato, we're leaving! We have to make sure-"

"And just where do you think you're taking Minato?"

The man stopped in his mid-step and slowly looked over his shoulder at Sandaime.

"To a… team reunion? Or… something…"

"Trust me, you won't need him for this" the Hokage grinned evilly. "You are dismissed for now, and I would use Minato's company for a while."

"But-"

"Dismissed, Jiraiya."

Minato watched as his sensei leave the Hokage's office and couldn't help but smirked. Karma comes back, it really does.

"And you, young man" Hiruzen continued "will do me a favor. But this time you'll be paid for it because it's a true D-rank or probably even higher, considering the circumstances. In fact, it's a confidential mission."

"What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"See, I'm quite busy here with the paperwork, but my wife doesn't really understand that this does require some focus and decided to put my two years old son under my care. I know that you're a nice young man and I'm sure I can entrust him to you for couple of hours. Would you accept this mission?"

"Of course" Minato smiled widely, relieved that he's not going to pull out the weeds.

"I thought so. Some of your teachers in the Academy told me that you're good with kids and I'm glad you don't mind such a task. Because I'm really running out of people who I can assign for something like this." He signed a scroll and handed it to the boy. "Please, come here with him at five. It doesn't really interests me where you'll go with him as far as it's acceptable. Just make sure nothing bad happen to him."

"Understood."

"Yes… and please, don't tell my wife. She's strict about me spending time with him and I really would love to, but I simply can't."

"I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Good."

"But… where is your son, Hokage-sama?"

"With Tsunade."

Minato bit his lower lip when Sandaime eyed him hesitantly.

"I'll make sure your wife doesn't know about it either, Hokage-sama."

"Yes, I would really appreciate that."

 **A/N: So how was it? Nex chapter soon (I hope):)**


	3. Chapter 3

"You two!" was heard a menacing voice from behind a pair of very tensed boys. They both looked over their arms at the newcomer and grimaced visibly after recognizing him. Five second passed and the man was standing just in front of them, eyeing them wildly. "Want to tell me about something?"

"It was your idea" Hiashi rolled his eyes, obviously uncomfortable. "We told you it was a bad one."

"And what now, you thing that you're excused because of that…?"

"…"

"Would you mind reminding me an objective of D-ranks?"

"Genin get them to learn teamwork" recited Fugaku quietly.

"And who are you?"

"…genin."

"So WHY can't you forget just for a little bit about your fucking egoistic selves and just start to cooperate?!" Jiraiya raised his hands. "Just HOW OLD are you two?! How childish are you that you can't even clean a hall together!" the boys were keeping their gazes down. "You know something, I thought that when I leave you with a task, a serious one, because it's something you're paid for and something you're responsible for before the Hogake, I thought that you two will finally try to come to terms. I heard about your first failed D-rank and I told myself _Give them time, Jiraiya_ , I heard about the next one and it was like _give them one more chance, Jiraiya_ and just today I hear that I missed the next three failures. Heirs of the clans, my ass…" he growled and now he had their full attention. "Screw me, I couldn't care less about what people are saying, but have you thought even once what a miserable impression of yourselves are you giving right now?"

They were gazing at him in silence for a long moment. The last sentence left them in deep reflection, which surprised Jiraiya somehow.

"So maybe that's the clue…" he said softly. "Maybe this is just everything we need to make you cooperate."

Using his chakra, he closed the door, took a stool and installed himself in front of them.

"All right, brats. Spill the beans. What's going on here?"

A long silence followed his question, but he was waiting patiently for their answer.

"What about?" Fugaku mumbled after a while.

"Your clans, obviously."

"You mean…"

"I mean that I heard about your fathers' attempts to convince the Hokage to place you in separate teams" he said with raised eyebrows. "When they stopped bothering him, I thought that they just gave up or something, but now I see the war remains" he paused for a moment. "It's about Uchiha-Hyuuga hostility, isn't it?"

"And you really didn't think about it earlier, sensei?" Hiashi shot him a heavy glare. "What would it be about?"

"It did cross my mind. But I was sure that being placed in one team is enough to you to forget about a stupid conflict of old men. I thought you'll get over this nonsense. I saw how you interacted with Minato, a civilian, I saw that you respect him for his skills and for a kind of man he is. So why not try and befriend each other?"

"We are from different clans" Hiashi sighed. "I am a Hyuuga, Fugaku is an Uchiha. We cannot… befriend each other. It is fate."

"That was… the most idiotic explanation you could give him" Fugaku eyed his teammate tiredly.

"It is true."

"What about you?" Jiraiya looked at Fugaku.

"Generally… it is the fate in some way" he muttered. "It's not a secret our clans hate each other and it would be strange if the two of us didn't."

"I'm gonna ask you a question and I want you to answer me honestly. Were you banned from talking to each other when you were in the Academy?"

"Yes" Fugaku nodded instantly.

"By who?"

"By my father."

"Hiashi?"

"I was as well."

"And what did your fathers told you, when you were placed in one team? Did they want you to fail every mission so that the Hokage relocate team members?"

"No" Fugaku winced. "My father tried to convince the Hokage to put me in some other team, but it didn't work, so he told me to make chuunin as fast as possible."

"My father tried to take me away from the team, he wanted to train me personally, but he isn't allowed to do this before I make chuunin. Then he told me not to get in any kind of agreement with Fugaku."

"And tell me one thing, because I'm sure I missed something: how do your fathers expect you to make chuunin and not to cooperate with each other at the same time? Cause as far as I remember you need a three men squad to take part in Chuunin Exams and in most cases it's your genin team."

They shrugged uncomfortably but didn't say anything.

"Well, with all due respect to your fathers, they're idiots" Jiraiya stated, gaining two sharp looks from his students. "Let me tell you something. Konoha was founded by two clan leaders, a Senju and an Uchiha. From that day some other clans joined the village and were sending their members on missions under the Leaf emblem. Then civilians started to move in, looking for shinobi protection. Now we're little by little leaving the clan era behind and civilians can become ninja too, though it's a lot harder to them. I'm sure that one day Konoha will achieve a point where a name won't mean anything, even if we still have a long way before us. What we need now is internal unity, which consists mostly on good relationships between the clans, as they're an important power for example in making important decisions. And guess what, that's exactly the reason why you two were placed in one team."

"You mean…"

"I mean that the Hokage is already sick about your fathers yelling and spitting at each other. The Uchiha and the Hyuuga are the biggest clans in the village. They're still suppliers of many shinobi and the village depends on them to some point. That's why it's so important that your clans tolerate each other. But your fathers are leading a ridiculous war between them. I'm no saying that your clans loved each other before your fathers took the leadership, but it was much better. So to put it straight, the Hokage decided to place you in the same team because he doesn't want to have the next generation of annoying clanheads who are too busy with undermine each other in every possible way."

The were both looking at him surprised. He smiled internally, knowing that he got to the point.

"So… Lord Third wants us to come to an agreement… in place of our fathers?" Hiashi frowned slightly.

"In fact yes, he does. It seems that your old men are already hopeless. So he's counting on you at this point. One day you'll become clanleaders and the huge part of Konoha's politics will depend on you. Make sure not to mess around too much then. You can start to work on it now by creating close relationships with other future leaders. As far as I know, you had the Nara, the Yamanaka and the Akimichi in you Academy class. One day you'll all meet on a Council meeting. It will be much easier if you know something about them. Maybe if you succeed in making some friends among the future leaders, the Hokage won't have to change the broken windows in the meeting room after each session. Now it's a jungle there."

"I heard there is always a group of medical ninja waiting outside the door" Hiashi said lightly.

"Around twenty of them."

"And you believe that if we two become… friends, then the hatred between our clans will stop?" Fugaku asked sceptically.

"It's not hatred yet, happily. But it may be one day, so you better hurry and come to terms in this generation and not leave it to your children. And believe me, when a leader gets into an argument with another leader, their subordinates make everything ten times worse. So now" he stood up and put his hands on his hips. "I'm giving you one more chance, but ONE more chance to prove that you're actually twelve and genin and that you can complete a D-rank without supervision. Which is…" he took a scroll off from his sleeve and read the script "catching fifteen bunnies. It seems they escaped from a pet shop in the eastern part of the village… my, how didn't a shopkeeper noticed FIFTEEN bunnies slipping through the door…? Whatever" he sighed. "Try to deal with it somehow, you have three days for it" he handed the scroll to Hiashi. "And don't make good-for-nothing idiots of yourselves again. Clear?"

"Yes, sir" they muttered in unison.

"Good. If you need me, I'll be somewhere in the village."

"That is not helpful at all, sensei. You just told us you can be anywhere." Hiashi noticed.

"But it sounded better than _I can be anywhere_ , didn't it?"

"So what if it doesn't matter?" Fugaku smirked.

"At least Minato appreciates my attachment to the art of a word."

"He doesn't really. He just don't want you to be upset."

"…you had to tell me that, didn't you."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the break if anybody waits here for updates:} enjoy the chapter!**

Minato observed his surroundings, trying to figure out what he should do. As far as Lord Third had been aware of Tsunade's current whereabouts, he had admitted that the blonde would have to put some efforts into finding the Senju princess. Considering that Hiruzen had forbidden her to take his little son to any sort of pubs, she could be… anywhere, really. But who would manage such a task better than our little genin?

Ehem, a Hyuuga. An Inuzuka. Or why not somebody who can do more than two shadow clones at the moment…?

Oh, whatever. He was going to make it no matter what.

In fact, it wasn't that hard in the end. I mean, everybody knew who Tsunade was. And if half of the village knows you, it's not a big deal to just ASK somebody if they hadn't seen the blond lady for two hours. Who said you need a kekkei genkai to actually locate someone? Pfff…

With a little help from some people, finding Tsunade took him only around twenty minutes. Oh, he was proud of himself (the Hokage would be proud of him too, really) when he approached Tsunade with a kind smile on his lips. She was sitting on a bench near the playground and appeared to be… sleeping.

He knew better that to shake her by her arm with his bare hand.

So he found a stick (a LONG one) and started to poke the Senju princess's knee.

Five second later, a pair of warm brown eyes stared at him with annoyance.

"What're you actually doing, brat…?" Tsunade muttered unfriendly.

"I'm sorry" he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly and abandoned the stick as fast as he could. "It's just… I was ordered to find you."

"What does that old man need now?" she sighed heavily, crossing her arms. "If he wants me to help him with any sort of paperwork, then get lost, kid. Not a chance I'm going to the Tower."

"No, no. In fact I got a D-rank mission to look after his son, so it's more like you'll be free now, Tsunade-sensei…"

"Don't call me that, I told you. It makes me feel old" she rolled her eyes gracefully. "Why did he give you a D-rank? It took him quite a while to convince me to look after his troublesome toddler this morning and now, by some miracle, he suddenly finds someone to nurse him. Not to mention you get money."

"Well… Maybe he just didn't want to irritate you that much and he decided to give you some rest in the afternoon" he tried.

"Being nice and gentle again, aren't we?" she eyed him with a grin. "I think he's just scared of his wife finding out about me taking care of her sweetheart" Minato blushed slightly. "Of course he is. But anyway, I don't get why that hag hate me this much… I'm not insane enough to drink when I have a child under my care".

"…"

"I am not."

"I'm sure you aren't, Tsunade-sensei."

"Don't call me that."

"But how am I supposed to call you then?" he groaned. "When I tried with Tsunade-sama…"

"Fine, forget it" she snarled.

"Sorry."

"And stop apologizing."

"I'm s… yeah, OK."

"Good. So" she stood up and stretched lazily. "You're taking this little monster from me, I'm quite happy about it and I'm going to the pub" she looked around with raised eyebrows… Then a frown was visible on her beautiful face. And finally she bit her lower lip and patted her foot to the ground. "Okay… where is he?"

Minato stood just next to her, with the most innocent face he could make, his hands connected politely behind his back.

"Minato."

"I have no idea, sensei" he mumbled. "I didn't see him here, when I found you."

"He was in the sandpit just a while ago" she said clearly. "It wasn't more than thirty seconds. Where is he."

They observed the playground precisely, checking on every swing and every tunnel they could find. Minato asked some befriended mothers and nannies if they saw the little boy, but no one was able to help him much. He locked eyes with Tsunade five minutes later and saw a worried reflection on her face, which mirrored his own.

"Damn it" she mumbled, approaching him slowly. "How could he get away from here…?"

"I don't know…" he admitted, wiping his eyes. "But we need to find him. Fast."

"Genius" she growled. "It didn't even crossed my mind, you kno-"

"Sorry, all right? It was just a statement, I didn't mean anything rude. I don't blame you, I was here too when he vanished."

"Whatever" she put fingers on her temples, looking around for the last time. "Fine, how do you find a toddler lost in a huge village?"

"Byakugan" he offered.

"Do you have one? That snobby teammate of yours does…"

"He has another D-rank right now."

"Great. And the Uchiha idiot?"

"Is with Hiashi. They're working on their cooperation" he informed with uninterested tone.

"And you aren't with them?"

"No, because they can cooperate with me and not with each other."

"A brilliant idea of your amazing sensei, isn't it?"

"Mhm."

"If they haven't made any progress in that matter since the last time I saw them, they're very likely going to destroy the village."

"Tell me about it."

"Back to our business then…"

"Shadow clones?" he shrugged tiredly.

"Right" she nodded. She immediately crossed her fingers and six shadow clones appeared behind her. They took off immediately. "Can you make any?"

"Two, not more. I used them to find you before, but maybe I'll manage to make them again" he concentrated and finally performed the jutsu. Two Minato's emerged from the cloud and went away for searching.

"It is something" she nodded to herself, clearly stiffed. "Something more?"

"Maybe summons would help?" he scratched his chin. "I don't have any just yet, but you do, don't you, sensei?"

"I do. But it's going to be quite difficult for them to help us."

"…why?

"Because I summon slugs."

"Oh…"

"But Jiraiya-baka has his toads and I bet he's the less busy ninja in the village right now, so maybe let's just find him" she decided and moved in village center's direction.

"You know where he may be right now?" Minato caught up to her immediately.

"Don't you?"

"He's not necessarily doing his 'research' right now… Around an hour ago I pulled him out of bed and dragged him to the Tower, because Lord Third wanted to talk to him about Hiashi and Fugaku…"

"Believe me, kid. Just wait ten more years, spend the majority of your time with your two teammates and all you're going to need to locate them is your sixth sense. Knowing the time would be helpful too".

"So he is in the onsen?" he looked at her carefully.

"No."

"…where, then?"

"You'll see."

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Please tell me, if you liked it;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for late update!**

"So…"

"Yes, exactly."

"Okay…" Minato eyed the building unconvinced. "And you're sure he's here, sensei?"

"You may have my head if he isn't here, brat" Tsunade shrugged nonchalantly and entered through open door. The blonde followed her hesitantly.

"It's really this simple? He's HERE?"

"Of course he is here."

"But… library? Jiraiya-sensei in a library?" he shook his head slightly. "I wouldn't guess."

"Well, this idiot dreams of becoming the gratest novelist in the world. So he's gathering material here."

"Isn't he going to write porn?"

"Jiraiya? Probably, in the future. But he has some good ideas in his head too" she paused for a moment. "Don't you dare tell him I said something like this."

"Why not? Maybe if he knows that you approve platonic stories, he'll not reach for his porn ideas for a book."

"Don't tell him."

"But he should know. You're his friend after all, aren't you? It's nice to know what your friends think about-"

"Don't" a pair of brown eyes looked at him sternly.

"And what if I do?" he raised an eyebrow daringly.

"You'll be then nothing more than a damn brat to me."

"Oh, I would survive that. I thought you'd send me to the moon with your punch, but being a brat for the rest of my life isn't that final…"

"You know, sometimes I can't believe that behind all this cuteness and kindness of yours there is a sleeping beast waiting for a poor soul yet to get devastated" she sighed deeply.

"Hey, I'm not that bad" he mumbled, thinking for a moment. "But maybe you're right… Well, it's not possible to always be nice to everybody. Sometimes circumstances just ask for some sternness and all you can do…"

"If you want to start some philosophical conversation, go to the Third. I don't have nerves for such things."

"Fine."

"Fine."

And with that, they continued their way to the last level of the library. When they reached the sixth floor, Minato noticed a man guarding… The Door. What his sensei was doing behind them was beyond him. The Door was leading to the part of library where only jounin were allowed. Why? Well, that wasn't clear. Stories about genin trying to break through it were legendary and no one doubted for a second that more than one jounin sensei gave his students such a task during their training regime, but nonetheless a rule was a rule and Minato, who followed the rules, prepared himself to wait for Tsunade outside…

"Good morning, Princess Tsunade" the guardian greeted the woman with a bow, smiling widely.

"Good morning. Is that fellow teammate of mine in there again?" she asked with one hand on her hip.

"Yes, indeed. He arrived not that long ago…"

"And now he'll get out. Thank you, Genji-san" with that she opened The Door violently and walked in. "Minato."

"Yes…?"

"What are you doing there standing like a dummy?"

"I… Tsunade-sensei, I don't think-"

"Come in, young man" Genji waved his hand tiredly.

"But I'm genin."

"And I'm responsible for the order inside that room. So go with Tsunade-sama and make sure I won't have to clean up after she's done with your sensei" they locked eyes and the man added: "Please".

"Okay…" Minato blinked and, hesitantly, went in. Tsunade send him an amused look and then started to wander between bookstands, trying to find her old friend. Minato closed The Door carefully and, without a second thought, registered his surroundings.

Here he was, in one of the most enigmatic places in Konoha. All alone, free to read till the very end of this moment. He turned right and started to walk alongside the bookstand, reading all titles he was passing by as fast as he could. He couldn't believe it: there were hundreds of books explaining all legendary techniques of shinobi ancestors. His eyes widened and he stopped abruptly, when one of them caught his attention for a little bit longer. He reached for it with almost devotional silence and opened it slowly.

 _Hiraishin no Jutsu._ The Flying Thunder God Technique invented by Second Hokage himself.

He was devouring page after page, not paying attention to his surroundings. The coolest, greatest, amazingest justu ever created was explained in the very book he was holding. He couldn't believe his luck… This was definitely the best day in his whole life-

"Hey, kid, what're you doing…?"

He immediately closed the book and looked up embarrassed… only to meet playful eyes of his sensei.

"That was mean" he snarled annoyed.

"Well, you shouldn't even be here in the first place. You didn't keep Tsunade from destroying something after all…" Jiraiya blinked and approached him slowly. Minato was smart enough to recognize the expression on his face, so he put the book on its place behind his back. "What're you reading?"

"Nothing" he answered, a little too fast.

"What WERE you reading, then?"

"Nothing…"

"Minato, I'm not kidding."

"Nothing much. I swear" he spared a look on nearby books. "Only something about Kage Bushin."

Jiraiya observed the books for a little while unconvinced. He bent over the shelf with a stern face…

"Minato."

"But really-"

He paused when the Toad Sage took THE book from the bookstand. And believe it or not, the look our little blonde got from his sensei was…intimidating.

"You're a terrible liar if you really are up to something" Jiraiya stated, his brows furrowed. "You were reading this one, weren't you."

"…"

"Listen to me, kid. And listen closely. If I find out that you're making any, ANY use of ANYTHING you managed to memorize from that book, I'll convince the Hokage to put you under twenty four hour ANBU surveillance during which your hands will be permanently tied up behind your back. The Hiraishin is the most dangerous technique the shinobi world knows about and I won't let you become a victim of it. Dozens of people lost their lives trying to figure it out and you'll not be next. So forget what you've read in it NOW and never ever try to look into this book again. Am I clear?" he pierced the boy where he stood with his intense gaze and Minato swallowed hard, slightly scared with his sensei for the first time in his life.

"Yes, sir" he almost whispered, looking down on his feet. He heard the book coming to its place with a loud 'bang' and then registered Jiraiya's steps getting farther away from him.

"Come. We're leaving."

So he did. But seeing Tsunade passing by his alley, he waited for three more seconds. Then he followed the couple without a single gaze over his arm.

Never before in his life did he see his sensei this serious. The thought that Jiraiya cared this much for him should've warmed his heart, but it didn't. A little flame of angst appeared in his heart, when he understood that this time, he would go against his wishes. This man was always playing an idiot in front of everybody, even in front of him, even though they've known each other for more than a year now, far longer than for three months they've spent in their team. Life is sometimes brutal for people and no one cares that even children are left alone in the world. And it's good that some people are ready to help them in such moments.

But he just couldn't let this chance slip. His shadow clone would be enough to get what he wanted.

 **A/N: A little bit different from other chapters, but I hope you liked it. Sorry for slow action. Anyway please, tell me what you think about the story so far;)**


	6. Chapter 6

Two boys were lying on grass, hiding from a hot sunlight of a summer day. They had a tiring time after them. In fact, the last couple of days seemed really exhausting, physically and psychically. Not only did they failed five D-rank mission, but they failed them TOGETHER. Oh, man.

Doing something in a company of someone you despise… no, it isn't easy. And trying to accomplish something? Even less. But THEY thought it would be a brilliant idea, so who they were, two fresh genin, to deny orders of experienced shinobi?

Troublesome. Existence.

They were supposed to clean up the mud from the river. For what? They weren't sure. Something about fish and children… You see, there was too much of said mud and someone bothered to notice it and make it a D-rank for a group of oblivious genin. So Fugaku and Hiashi spent a nice afternoon, standing in the mud which reached up to their knees. Two hours later they got out from the river, tired and soaking wet, but somehow satisfied: not only did they manage to finally accomplish a mission together, but thanks to the cold water they weren't as sweaty as they may have been.

So they decided to rest for a while and dry up before going to the Hokage Tower to report back.

"We did it" Fugaku murmured softly.

"We did, indeed" Hiashi nodded. "Now we have only ten D-rank missions left."

"You think it's gonna be this much?"

"I'm positive it is."

"We aren't nearly bad enough to deserve this much… are we?"

"It depends on the point of view" Hiashi sighed deeply. "In Jiraiya's eyes it is not something we deserve, as it is not a punishment. It is more of a way to make us cooperate."

"And you really think he isn't happy when he sees us struggling like this? Cause I think it's a funny show for him" Fugaku grunted, crossing his arms. "That idiot…"

"You do not like him?"

"…it's not that-"

"I certainly do not" he shrugged.

"Because?"

"He is not much of a sensei to us. All he does is being late to our meetings and dismissing us too early when it finishes. We will not learn much from him, if he continues to act this way."

"But… on the other hand, he IS a sannin" Fugaku murmured unconvinced. "He has to be good, if he gained the title. I'm sure he would teach us almost anything if he only wanted."

"Not every master is a good teacher" Hiashi stated after a while. "He probably does not know how to deal with students. I think we should not expect a lot from him."

"And what if he acts like this because… you know, because we have our own training sessions?" Fugaku furrowed his eyebrows. "Maybe he decided to leave the proper training to our families and he doesn't care about our progress."

"And what about Minato?" Hiashi snorted. "He does not have anyone to train him at home."

"And WHAT do you mean by that?" Fugaku greeted his teeth, suddenly irritated.

"Relax" Hiashi sighed tiredly. "I am not insinuating anything here, you do not have to protect your friend from me."

"You know, you're SO annoying sometimes."

"And so are you."

"One more word and you're getting a punch on your face!" Fugaku sat up and clenched his fingers in Hiashi's clothes.

"I said calm down, foolish" the Hyuuga rolled his eyes. "I did not offend Minato. You should know better than this."

"I told you at the beginning, just you try to scorn Minato, I'm gonna-"

"Let go of me" he growled clearly and pushed Fugaku away from him. "I respect Minato much more than I respect you. It does not matter to me if he comes from a noble family or not, because he is a great and talented shinobi who I trust. So stop being so obsessed about it. And let me finally get to know him, as he is MY teammate too now."

"And just what do you want to say by THAT…?!"

"What I want to say is that you are childishly possessive of him. I understand that you became friends years ago and I am not going to interfere in your friendship at any point, but I need to befriend him as well, because we are now in the same team and I have to trust him with my life. And HE has to trust me with HIS life, too. Thus, I would be thankful if you let me talk to him."

"You're ridiculous" Fugaku huffed. "I'm not keeping him away from you. YOU are the problem here. If you weren't socially disabled, you would get along with Minato just fine and not-"

"I AM getting along with him just fine."

"So WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!"

"I have already told you what I want."

"I'm not keeping Minato away from you" Fugaku murmured after a while.

"Yes, you are."

"Am not!"

"And who is ridiculous now" Hiashi shook his head with a smirk. "You are so childish sometimes."

"Fuck off."

"You are angry because you know I am right" he stated and lay down again. "You do not let me near Minato because you are jealous. You are afraid of losing your only friend, because if Minato leaves you, you will be all alone. Again. Like back in the Academy days, when we were still little children."

"Shut up."

"Or what."

"Or I will make you" Fugaku gasped, looking at his teammate furiously with his sharingan activated.

"I am not going to engage myself in another ridiculous fight with you."

"Well, if you aren't, then you shouldn't have pissed me off on the first place!" with that, Hiashi's head jerked on left, when Fugaku's fist landed on his jaw. He didn't wait any longer and activated his byakugan, jumping on his feet. Ten seconds later they parted and pierced each other with death glares.

"Stop it, fool" Hiashi snarled angrily. "You want to fight with me for the rest of your life?"

"I will not let you mock me or tease me. I'm not inferior to you. And you better stick it to your head when we're still genin."

"I am barely making you understand that you are only human and you have weak points as anybody. I am already well aware of mine own."

"No, in fact, what you're doing right now is provoking him" suddenly, an unexpected smooth voice sounded from the forest area. Their heads turned immediately into the newcomer's direction and their eyes widened, when they recognized him. Just before them stood no one else but Orochimaru himself and he was eyeing them with slight annoyance, his arms crossed over his chest. A well-known smile of the Snake sannin didn't manifest itself on his lips. There wasn't even a shade of it left.

"Orochimaru-sama" Hiashi muttered under his breath.

"The future heirs of the two most prestigious Konoha's clans, snapping at each other like some hungry animals" he said clearly unimpressed. "Pathetic."

The boys shared an uneasy look. Just… what did the sannin mean by that…?

"…why are you here, Orochimaru-sama?" Fugaku asked softly.

"The rumors of your incredible failures spreads in the village with an impressing speed" the way he leaned nonchalantly on a tree trunk was playing with their nerves. "People already gossip about two infamous brats who can't handle a simple task. It's only a matter of time and the news will reach to the clans' compounds. What will you do then?"

"I…I am… Forgive me, Orochimaru-sama, but… how does that concerns _you_?" Hiashi asked hesitantly, trying not to cross any possibly existing line.

"It does quite a lot" the Snake moved and approached the two uneasy genin. "I am already sick of your pitiful sensei coming to me to complain how much of idiots you two are. I am tired of people who thinks that if you are Jiraiya's students, you're mine too. And when my dear sensei keeps nagging me to DO something about your foolishness, even if he knows better than anyone that I have nothing to do with you, then I would rather take care of some things just to finally get some rest from all of them."

With that, a hiss was heard from behind him, shortly followed by another. Two seconds later, a ten meters long snake emerged from the forest area and bared his poisonous fangs.

The boys swallowed hard and instinctively got closer to each other. An evil grin appeared on Orochimaru's face.

"They say that a friend in need is a friend indeed" he muttered lightly. "Let's see if they are right."

Then, the snake jerked in their direction and circled them, hissing widely. The genin jumped as far away from it as they could and, before they had a chance to think where they were going, they ran into the forest. The beast followed them immediately, devastating a fence thirty meters from the river.

A fence surrounding the forty-fourth training ground, better known as the _Forrest of Death_.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the pause! Here you have the next chapter. Oh, and one more thing. I'm quite sure I suck with writing fight scenes and this is a fight scene, so please, have mercy.**

"Did we lose him…?" Hiashi's whisper was hardly audible. He didn't dare to move, even though his current position would provide with some remarkable bruises. Not only that…

"I'm not sure" Fugaku, who was lying on him, with his hands desperately clenched with his clothes, risked a look at their surroundings.

"You better be."

"Don't you have a byakugan…? Be useful and check yourself."

"Hn" the Hyuuga grunted stubbornly, but activated his dojutsu anyway. He observed the area for half a minute. "I guess we lost them after all…"

"Yeah…"

"Get of me" suddenly Fugaku got shaken off from his back unceremoniously.

"Hey, be careful!"

"You were lying on me."

"Damn…! They're chasing us, can't you just for once pretend to be a shinobi?! No violent moves" he tried to sound angrily, but really, it was more like pouting.

"They are not nearby" he shrugged, standing on his feet. "I did not perceive them with my eyes, so…" he stopped, because a sound of something crawling through bushes reached out to their ears.

"You didn't…?"

"…fuck."

They took off instantly, jumping from one branch to another highly over the ground. Still, the worrisome sound of an approaching beast only got clearer. The two genin eyed each other, a shade of fear on their faces.

"Your efforts are pointless" a silky voice of the sannin was audible from far too close to them. "If I were in your shoes, I would start to think of some strategy for the inevitable fight."

"Right…" Fugaku admitted. "I forgot to be rational."

"How on Earth did you forget to be rational…?"

"Instead of running around, we should make some planning."

"When a huge beast gets on its way to catch and kill me, I find the idea of running away from it quite rational" Hiashi hissed irritated. "But on the other hand" he continued after a moment "we are moving in wrong direction."

"How so?"

"We are going deeper and deeper into the forest. And I am not sure if you are aware, but it is _the forrest_."

"Which forest…?"

"The forty-four training ground."

"Oh… shit. We need to get back or-" and there he stopped, as a huge tale of a huge snake with a huge yellow creepy eye hit the branch they were landing on. The boys let out a surprised cry and, shortly after, hit the ground with a remarkable speed. They got up shakily, only to see Orochimaru, standing on the beast's head, observing them maliciously.

"It's good that we are not at war now" the sannin sighed, shaking his head slowly. "You would be nothing more than cannon fodder."

"Shut the hell up!" Fugaku growled.

"Tsk, tsk" Orochimaru's lips twisted in an evil smile. "I don't think you're now in any kind of position to give me orders."

"You…"

The snake reached for them suddenly, snapping dangerously with his fangs. They hardly managed to dodge, climbing on tree trunks with their chakra.

"Oh, I didn't introduce you, did I? Must have slipped my mind" Orochimaru scratched his chin, deep in thoughts. "Anyway, I'm honored to introduce you to Manda" he pointed to the snake. "He is one of my summons."

"Aren't summons supposed to help you in need?"

"Of course they are."

"Then WHY is he here?" Hiashi shouted from a tree crown.

"Because I need him."

"No, you do not! It is only some ridiculous idea of yours to summon him here!"

"Well, I am a formidable ninja and I'm very content you share this opinion, but it is going to be much easier to get what I want with his little help."

"WHAT do you want?!" Fugaku burst out. A second later he jumped off the tree with a forced yelp, when a poisonous fang almost pinned him to the trunk. The snake didn't stop and tried another three times to catch the poor genin, luckly for Fugaku, with no success.

"What the hell are you doing, do you want to kill him?!" Hiashi yelled, pissed.

"Oh, you are worried about your teammate?" Orochimaru wondered. "I guess it's a sign of improvement. Somehow. Let's see how it works contrariwise" with that, the young Hyuuga almost disappeared in Manda's jaws. But a huge ball of fire crossed his way, shortly followed by a bunch of kunai sent in Orochimaru's direction.

"Fight him back!" Fugaku shouted to Hiashi, making another series of handseals. "He won't stop, we need to do something."

"Are you insane, you want to fight against a sannin?! And his huge snake summon?!"

"Manda isn't that big, you see" Orochimaru's tone was almost nonchalant. "It hasn't been long since he was actually a child. He still is, in fact."

"A ten meters long beast is a child?!"

"Yes, that's what I am trying to say."

"… how much longer will he get, then?"

"He will most likely double his length in upcoming two years. You two should be grateful to me, honestly. I decided to go easy on you."

"Yeah, thank you so much, Orochimaru-sama" Fugaku growled. "We will remember this little act of your unexpected generosity for the rest of our lives."

"Oh, I don't doubt for a second that you will" he grinned, when Manda snapped at the Uchiha with a crazy hiss. "Now, I would rather we come back to our business, shall we?" and thus, Fugaku found himself clenched in Manda's jaws, holding desperately one of his fangs not to get swallowed. The only thing he could do was stabbing his gums with kunai, which resulted with a series of violent shakes of the snake's head. He couldn't form any seals, so he decided to wait…

…a regular shouts were heard from outside the beast mouth. Manda's whole body was shaking rhythmically, followed by angry hisses of pain. Fugaku took the first chance he got to escape from the jaws and then, performed a basic lightning jutsu even before achieving the ground. Fast. He landed just next to his Hyuuga teammate.

"You have two affinities?" Hiashi asked, watching Manda carefully.

"Yeah, I do."

"Lucky you" he mumbled, sending another gentle fist towards the snake.

"I guess… You have one?"

"Water."

"I've never seen you using any waterstyle jutsu."

"Most likely because I do not use any. Watch out!" he managed to breath out, before the beast attacked again.

"We need a plan" Fugaku sighed, when they hid it bushes.

"I already have one."

"You _do_?"

"Well… it is simple in fact. There are two of us. I prefer a close combat, you have your firestyle. So I thought that you would distract them, while I try to approach Orochimaru."

"I'm more in close combat too..."

"Fine, but we have quite a problem here, because you could-"

"But-"

"Look, I admit it, all right? I do not know any technique to fight something of this size. So _please_ , would you mind making some use of your fireballs, because as heroic as it would be, I do not want to die in such a place, killed by something like this and with you alongside?"

"So you admit that the Uchiha are stronger?"

"…are you stupid or something? We may be in the middle of a fight for our lives and you think about such a nonsense?!"

"Just say it."

"No."

"Fine. I just wanted to know."

"Fool."

"Idiot. He spotted us" Fugaku dragged his teammate some meters back to escape the fangs. "Let's see if that works."

A huge fireball, much larger than the previous one, formed just before Manda's head. The snake let out a painful hiss and his yellow eyes automatically found Fugaku, who was already going through another series of handsigns. The second fireball pushed the beast a couple of meters backwards, straight into a narrow area of swamp. A crazy idea came to Fugaku's head…

…and he was going to make it happen. Oh, how much he was going to make it happen.

A furious cry of an animal was audible when splitting lightning surrounded his body. The Uchiha allowed himself a vain smirk, when he watched with self-pride a huge body of the snake falling lifeless to the ground. To think it was enough…

Well, of course it wasn't. I know stories shouldn't be this predictable, so I'm sorry, my dear reader, but still, it WASN'T enough. We're in the Naruto universe after all.

"People would think that it was almost surprising for a genin like you to perform a jutsu of this caliber" an unimpressed voice of the sannin was heard from behind Fugaku. He turned to him instantly, only to see a bored expression on the pale face. "But on the other hand, I'm pretty sure your respectful teammate is going to kill you when he gain his consciousness back."

A cold sweat covered Fugaku's neck, when he noticed Hiashi's numb body lying on the ground. He instinctively rushed to him and crouched to his side, trying to figure the damages he caused…

Just then, the pair of white eyes opened. Only that the eyes weren't white: they were gold, with a vertical pupil in the middle.

"Surprise."

He hit a trunk with his back and fell to the ground with a moan, holding his ribcage with his palm. He could hardly see someone getting at Orochimaru with full speed, when his vision slipped away, making him drown into darkness. The last thing his senses registered was a sound of something enormous… getting up.


	8. Chapter 8

"Where… on earth… is this damn brat?!"

A large stone was shattered on pieces with a single punch of a woman fist. Standing over it was Tsunade, beautiful and majestic as ever, glowing with rage. Two meters from her Minato observed her with a mix of awe and fear in his blue eyes. Meanwhile Jiraiya hardly spared a look on his teammate.

"We went the whole village trough, we sent dozens of shadow clones, dozens of toads and they found NOTHING" the ground shook violently, when her fist hit it with an immense speed. "Fuck, he's just a kid, a two-years-old, just HOW FAR could he-"

"Would you stop babbling finally?" Jiraiya shoot her a tired look. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"On _what_?"

"I've just had a very unique flow of afflation and I'm trying to immortalize its fruits, so if you were as nice not to-"

"You IDIOT!" Jiraiya landed on the ground with his pretty blonde teammate on his chest. "Your sensei's kid is gone and you don't give fuck about it? Do you imagine just how furious he will be when he finds out?!"

"Not my problem" he shrugged unimpressed. "I was your fault after all."

"You scum" she sent a fist towards his jaw, but he paired it aptly. "You won't leave me in this alone! I rescued your ass countless of times and now I want a payback! Don't you even dare to leave me alone with it!"

"Oh Tsunade, my dear, it didn't even cross my mind! Leaving you alone in need? I, your most precious friend? I would never-"

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Date me."

"Forget it."

"That or you look for Arata by yourself."

"…who?"

"You don't even know what his name is…?"

"Listen, you moron, there's no way in hell that I would go on a single date with you and don't you ask me for any ever again."

"Okay, I guess having you seated on my torso like this is the most I can get from you in that matter."

"…pervert."

"Am not!"

"Yes, you are" Minato muttered from the side.

"Shut up, blondie. Not your business. So, princess Tsunade" he eyed her mockingly. "Would you rather our little Arata got lost forever, or let a romantic, sweet evening happen?"

Tsunade was staring at him murderously for ten seconds, then she sighed heavily and folded her arms.

"None of those."

"…how so?"

"You'll help me anyway, regardless of a stupid date you're so eager to have with me" she stood up with no more word, leaving her teammate quite stunned on the grass.

"And if not?"

"Well, I DO have one more teammate, don't I? she stretched and grinned victoriously, seeing how Jiraiya's face dropped.

" _Fine_ , I'm gonna help you, satisfied now…?" he murmured with a pouting expression.

"I will be satisfied when I put my hands on that brat" with that, she moved from where they were standing, determined to continue searching. Jiraiya only shook his head hopelessly.

"Remember, kid" he addressed Minato. "Never EVER fall in love. All those happy-ending love stories are bullshit. Either your lover die during a war or she doesn't reciprocate your feelings. If you want to avoid this ridiculous suffering, stay single. Or homo."

"…you must be really depressed now, sensei. Just yesterday you wanted to find a girlfriend for me. As far as I remember, it took me quite a while to unravel it."

"It's because the weather was bad yesterday."

"And today the weather is beautiful so you changed your mind?"

"Didn't you hear anything about the seasonal affecting disorder?"

"It's _seasonal_. It appears in autumn."

"Fine, let's just say that the sun makes me more realistic and drop the subject, it's getting ridiculous" he growled and followed Tsunade with angry steps. Minato only raised an eyebrow and, with his hands in his pockets, caught up to his sensei.

"You think we will find him?" he asked softly, his thoughts returning to their main worry.

"Sure we will" the Toad Sage shrugged. "Tsunade is overreacting. I'm sure that somebody just saw a toddler wandering on his own in the town and took good care of him. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already in the Tower."

"It's her responsibility, you know" the blond murmured. "The Hokage entrusted him with her and… he got lost."

"Oh please, kid. Do you REALLY thing Sarutobi-sensei never lost him?"

Minato's eyes widened slightly, when he looked disbelievingly at his sensei.

"You don't mean-"

"Oh, I do. And not only that, you should know that this brat makes it on purpose. It's a play for him. I know what I'm saying, I was his unofficial nanny. _I was_ , not Tsunade or anybody else. I used to look after him quite often before our team was formed. He's a little pain in the ass and cute at the same time. But sensei doesn't put him under my care anymore since the day I took him to the training ground to spar with Orochimaru. Pfff, hypocrite…" he huffed. "Training ground is nothing comparing to places Sarutobi took this little boy to."

"I never thought you would… appreciate looking after kids."

"Why so?"

"…not sure."

"I don't really mind. Hey, Tsunade!" he yelled crazily, making his teammate turn to him. "Let's take a break. We can just leave searching to the clones and summons, and you would have a nice glass of something strong, how does that sound?"

"What part of ' _We need to find him and fast_ ' don't you understand, Jiraiya?" she breathed heavily.

"I've just told the kid and I'll repeat it to you: sensei himself is losing his son regularly, so he won't be this mad. Arata is a little master of quiet escape."

"Have you ever lost him?"

"Twice. Both cases ended just fine. No calm down and rest for a moment or you'll droop out of stress."

"I'm not stressed."

"And I am blind. Who's hungry? Minato, what do you suggest for lunch?"

"It's more like dinner at this hour" Minato remarked, his tone even. "It's you who woke at two p.m.."

"I couldn't care less if it's lunch or dinner, I'm hungry. See, I can even treat both of you for some food, I'm just that awesome."

"I think Tsunade-sensei has a point" the boy sighed tiredly. "It won't be fine if we just seat and eat while this child is missing."

"My, kiddo. Don't be so reasonable, you're only twelve. What do you suggest then?" Jiraiya reluctantly turned back to them, waiting for his response.

"We could find Fu and Hiashi. They should be done with their D-rank by now and their ocular prowess would be helpful. Especially the byakugan."

"I like it" Tsunade nodded. "Where are they, Jiraiya?"

"Somewhere near the river, I guess. If they didn't go home yet. It's not that far from here, in fact…" he eyed their surroundings and a couple of seconds later motioned to them to follow him. Not more than two minutes later, they landed on the bank of the river.

"They must have finished early" Tsunade murmured irritated. Her brows furrowed a second later. "Or… not."

"Huh?" Minato suppressed a yawn.

"The bags with river mud are still here" she pointed to the dirty sacks in front of them. "They shouldn't have left it just like that."

"How do you know what their mission was?"

"I helped sensei with assigning D-ranks to genin teams yesterday."

"Oh, you did?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrows. "What did he give you?"

"Two sake bottles."

"Hmpf… He never gives me anything when I help him."

"Your bad. Where are those brats?" she approached the river, observing the ground.

"Maybe they screw that up" Jiraiya shrugged, walking in her direction lazily. "Damn them… You think I can still withdraw from being a jonin sensei?"

"No" Minato's answer was immediate.

"My bad again" he sighed heavily and suddenly, stopped on his tracks. With his brows furrowed, he took a couple of steps backwards, his eyes devouring the area before him. "Hey, Tsunade…"

"Mm?"

"Look."

She did. For ten seconds she didn't say anything. Then she crouched and observed grass with her eyes narrowed and her mouth in tight line.

"It's… sleek."

"Yeah."

Minato fought the urge to ask a question, eager to understand what was so bothering that both of the sannin silenced immediately where they stood. He would get an answer anyway. Later. _Later_. Ugh. Tough genin life.

Meanwhile the two old teammates locked their gazes in something that seemed to be a quiet contemplation. They observed their surrounding simultaneously once again and, both at the same time, looked at the forest area in front of them. Then they took a couple of steps forward, following the sleek grass (sure, Minato saw it was sleek, but really, was that this strange…?) and didn't stopped until an unusual sight met their eyes.

Minato stopped just next them and noted two things: the sleek trace didn't disappear with the fence line. But the second thing was more startling, because the fence itself was lying on the ground. Broken.

"He didn't."

Tsunade sighed and crossed her arms, nodding slowly.

"I'm quite positive he did."

"He's dead" a pure rage manifested itself on his face and Minato felt a cold shiver going down his spine. He swallowed uneasily, when Jiraiya took off in a blink of an eye and disappeared in bushes.

"What's going on?" he asked softly. He got a chuckle from the sannin.

"It seems Orochimaru is trying to teach your friends how to cooperate" she informed, her tone almost casual.

"Why would he bother?"

"Believe me, when I say that he has his reasons. Some people may be just too nagging sometimes."

"Huh?"

"Have you ever seen Orochimaru during your team's training sessions?"

"No…?"

"Exactly."

"…no, I don't get it."

"The thing is, everybody treats him as if you three were his students too" she shrugged. "And it's started to piss him off just lately, so he took this mess into his hands. Apparently. He wants to teach your teammates a lesson in his own twisted way."

"Because he release his frustration this way?"

"No. Because if you three are to be his students, then you need to be good ones. And he can't afford something as ridiculous as lack of teamwork among his subordinates."

"But _why_ does he care?"

"Don't ask me. He's always been weird" she paused for a moment. "I think we should follow Jiraiya."

"Why?"

"He may need help, you know. With a summon snake, no matter of which size, it would be a challenge to beat Orochimaru with two hands only."

"A SNAKE?!"

"Yes. I think… a huge beast is now chasing after your teammates."

"AND YOU'RE PEACEFULL?!"

"Don't worry, he won't kill them" she waved her hand dismissively.

"You're all insane. All three of you" he hissed and took of instantly, trying to catch up to his sensei.

Tsunade watched him in silence for a minute. A tender breeze brought a sound of quiet steps to her trained ears. A man, dressed in white robes took off a white-red hat and passed it to a child he was holding in his arms. The little boy cheered up and put the brink of it into his mouth.

"I knew I can count on you" the Hokage nodded approvingly to his former student.

"I had fun, I must say" she shrugged nonchalantly. She thought for a moment. "But you should have warned Jiraiya."

"I couldn't. I desperately need those D-rank failures to end and HE would never agree to something like this. He is too fond of his students."

"He's pissed."

"…he is?"

"Yeah."

"..I'll better call ANBU to the Forest of Dearh."

"Sure" she raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Konoha destroyed by a pissed sannin… it would reflect poorly on your reputation."

"Oh, be quiet."


	9. Chapter 9

"Well, Jiraiya, your team's statistic have noticeably improved" Sarutobi sent an approving look to his former student, who was sitting in front of him. "It's been two weeks since the great devastation of the training ground forty four and you didn't fail a single mission, a C-rank included…"

"Spare it, old man" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes menacingly. "You're not gonna make me forget what you did to me."

"He did it FOR you, dumbass" Tsunade's voice came from behind the closed door.

"Hmpf…" he rolled his eyes unconvinced. The Senju Princess appeared just three seconds later with a clear smirk on her lips.

"You should be grateful to us, you know" she shrugged. "With your poor teaching methods you would have never obtain what we have in a blink of an eye."

"Which cost my team a couple of broken limbs, mind you."

"Broken limbs which I healed immediately, thus I don't entirely get your point."

"Why does it even matter that you healed them, if all of that MESS happened in the first place? You have no, NO idea what could've occured and you still deny… wait, why am I even talking to you…? And what are you doing here, shouldn't you be getting drunk in some pub at the moment as you always are ever since the war ended?"

"Baka" she muttered, while sitting on a pillow next to him and pouring hot tea to a spare cup. "My life doesn't consist on drinking only."

"Doesn't it?"

"It does NOT."

"Oh, whatever, really. I still can't believe you three could betray me like this, especially YOU" he pointed at his unruffled sensei. " _How_ could you? You sent Orochimaru after kids, and MY kids! Where's the loyalty you're always reminding me about…?"

"Slow down" Sarutobi waved his hand calmly. "I have already told you that I am not entirely satisfied myself by the way Ororchimaru did it… though your students would not have got this injured if _you_ have not decided to… induce the very earthquake you induced. Tsunade, am I not right?"

"Absolutely, sensei."

"Great, so it's MY fault? Brilliant. Such teammates you are, really…" he pouted offended.

"I don't quite understand you, you know" Tsunade sighed heavily. "When during the war Orochimaru wanted to leave you behind and let you die, you wasn't mad at him at all, yet when he tries to help you now you don't appreciate it in the slightest."

"…you do know just how ridiculous your argument is, don't you?" he thought for a moment. "And I was angry at Orochimaru back then. I just left it for later."

"Oh, and you two had a long, emotional conversation about friendship and loyalty when you got to the village safe, didn't you?"

"It wasn't long, nor was it emotional, but we had a conversation about some things and I don't think now it's the right moment to talk about it, so let's come back to our topic, shall we?"

"There is nothing more to say" the Hokage shrugged slowly. "We are going through this over and over again for two weeks now, so I am sure it is the right moment for you to just accept what happened, understand it and let it go for now. It's over, Jiraiya. As is the lack of teamwork in your squad. Take a break and be glad."

"About _what_ " he muttered under his breath, but didn't continue.

"I would say this is a good beginning for the Hyuuga and the Uchiha friendship" Sarutobi smiled with satisfaction.

"Hold on, sensei" Tsunade snarled. "Friendship is not a good word to call this with."

"It may not be a friendship yet but it may become it with time, and I would lie if I said I am not counting on those two boys."

…..

Minato was sitting in a dango shop, an utter scowl manifesting itself on his face. On both his sides, two twelve-years-old were devouring an insane amount of dango balls as fast as they could. A few of other clients were eyeing them, annoyed or interested in a soon-coming result of their little race.

"I win!" Fugaku stood up, unintentionally pushing his chair to the ground. Meanwhile Hiashi coughed hard, trying to catch a breath. "It's ten to twelve for me now" he announced after swallowing and sat down.

"I let you win" Hiashi growled irritated.

"Suuuure."

"You fool…"

"Are you DONE?!" Minato pierced them with his stare. They silenced immediately. "Can we finally, _please_ , spend some time like civilized people without any rivalry contests? I'm sick of you two already!"

"But we _are_ rivals, Minato" Hiashi spoke matter-of-factly. "It is inevitable for us to put such things in action."

"…fine. So be it" he hit the table with his fist and stood up, heading to the exit. "See you tomorrow on the training ground. Now I'm going somewhere where I can actually enjoy somebody's company."

And he left. He really did.

"Ouch" Fugaku made a face. "We sure put him on edge this time."

"As we do things like this every time we meet, I am positive it is irritating for him in general" Hiashi drank from his glass. "Go catch up to him. You could go somewhere like you used to back when you were in the Academy. Maybe he needs it."

"What makes you think he does?"

"He has seemed distracted and depressed just lately, you must have noticed."

"Well, I did… Yeah, you have a point. I'll take him somewhere, he's too melancholic even for his own standards…" he paused for a second. "Wait. I think I know what all of this is about."

"Then you better hurry up, before he goes too far" he shrugged. "But you pay first."

"For your dango? Don't be ridiculous."

After a short argument, which resulted in improper names and two almost broken glasses, Fugaku left the shop and headed straight to the cemetery. He went by an old gate and looked around, searching for a well-known blond head of his best friend. It took him some minutes to realize that he should go to the civilian part of the cemetery, so he moved into its direction and found who he was looking for instantly.

He approached Minato from behind with natural steps, not trying to hide his presence. He crouched just next to the blond, who was sitting in front of an ugly grave. The stone had two names engraved on the top. Names of Minato's parents.

"I'm sorry" the Uchiha mumbled after a while. "I didn't realize it's today."

A long silence followed his words, but he didn't care. He didn't expect an immediate answer anyway.

"It's been a year" Minato's whisper came to his ears after five minutes. "I can't believe… it has only been one year since then. It feels like a lifetime."

Fugaku raised his hand and squeezed Minato's shoulder tightly, trying to show him that he understands. But he did understand only as much as could someone who never experienced losing his entire family because of some stupid accident. The ceiling in his own house never collapsed. It never crushed his sleeping parents. He never became an orphan just overnight with no signs of something like this coming.

"Does it always feel like this?" Minato asked softly.

"How am I supposed to know…" he sighed slowly. "But I guess… it doesn't. They say that time heals wounds… Shinobi die. I know your parents weren't ones, but still, people die and their loving ones get over it with time. Maybe you have to wait a little longer."

"You lost a brother, didn't you?"

Fugaku blinked, caught off guard. He glanced at his friend unsure of how to react to his words.

"Sorry" Minato swallowed and looked down. "I didn't mean to remind you, it's just-"

"How do you know?" Fugaku furrowed his eyebrows. "I… never told you about him. I never told anyone in the Academy about him, so… how?"

"I remember my parents talking about the death of the Uchiha heir years ago. It somehow… stuck into my head for all those years. When we became friends, I always wondered if you'd talk to me about him."

"And I didn't."

"I shouldn't have-"

"It's been years ago, Minato" Fugaku shook his head. "I wasn't even four back then. It's… nothing comparing to what happened to you."

"So the time comes when it's just… fine? When I forget and the pain and the longing are gone?"

A long pause followed his question, when Fugaku was trying to formulate an answer, visibly struggling internally with what to say.

"As I said before…" he finally opened his mouth. "I was a little child when he died. I can't really give you the answer you expect from me."

"But?"

"I don't think there are any 'buts' here."

"So you don't miss him?"

"I don't."

"Cause you didn't like him?"

"I adored him."

"So?"

"SO it's been almost a decade. I learnt to live without him. He hasn't been a part of my life since I was a toddler. How often do you think about people you met when you were three…? You don't at all. You hardly remember them. And…" he paused, visibly trying to stop some words from coming out of his mouth. "…and I really think my brother is not a topic I should touch while talking to you. The circumstances of his death are still unknown to some point and… well. Nobody talks about him. Especially my parents. So I would rather we abandon this subject."

He didn't say it angrily. It was more like a deeply hidden uncertainty was standing behind his words. And Minato was smart enough to know that they crossed a safe line, wherever it was placed. Whatever the reason was for Fugaku not to feel at ease.

"So you often think about them, don't you?" Fugaku mumbled finally. A wave of sorrow caught the blond's heart.

"Everyday" he muttered. "My life turned upside down that night… I spent all night here today" he confessed with a sigh. "I couldn't sleep at all and I came here and… I sat here all night alone. Thinking of how much I miss them."

"Why didn't you come to me?" he asked. "You know I would have sat here with you, if you had needed."

"It's… I don't know. I really don't. I decided to stay here alone."

"But you're not alone" he said firmly. "Whatever you'll do, you won't be alone, cause there's no chance for all of us to ever abandon you. So start to finally make any sense with what you do and if you need help just look for us."

"Wow… what happened to you? Are you actually a feeling human being?" Minato smirked, a soft smile on his lips. Dark eyes of his friend pierced him to the ground.

"Not funny."

"Sorry. It's just strange for you to… you know. To show that you really understand and care. You're becoming more and more reserved with showing your emotions" he finished quietly, not sure what reaction he may get.

"We're growing up, you know. It's natural. I have to become stronger not only physically, but also mentally. I'm going to be a clanhead. And the Uchiha don't need a crybaby as their leader."

"Well, I won't be a clan leader, so I'm staying _natural_ for the rest of my life" he shrugged. "And emotions aren't a weakness. They're a part of everyone. They're what makes us be humans. By denying that you feel them, you reduce yourself to the rank of animals…"

"Are you done or do you have any more philosophical thoughts for today…?" Fugaku rolled his eyes. "You should be the Hokage with your wandering mind, really. Or you better don't. The shinobi world would cease to exist with that loving-peace ideas of yours."

"Thanks, Fu. You always know how to cheer me up."

"Anytime" he stood up and sighed heavily. "What would you say for eating out today? Or we could order a takeout and go to your place. You want to?"

"…you have a training today."

"So what?"

"Well, I think your father won't be happy about you skipping it, will he?"

"Whatever" he waved dismissively, but stayed silent for a moment. "Or on the other hand… you're going to buy something and I'll be in your place in twenty minutes. I'll inform him first."

"I guess it's a better option."

"Yeah, it is."

"And I have to show you something when you come" Minato smiled mysteriously, standing up. "It's something I worked on for two weeks now. I think you'll like it. But you can't tell anyone."

"Why?"

"Sensei's gonna kill me if he finds out. In short."

"Such a rebel you are" he snorted. "Just when did you start to ignore the rules?"

"Oh stop it, I didn't. Just… this time. I can't let such a chance go just because… it's illegal."

"Is it?"

"Not sure, but it may be for genin."

"Rebel."

"FINE, for once I am. Now go and convince your father to cancel your training" he thought for a moment. "He would agree?"

"I'm gonna make him."

"…and who's a rebel here?"

 **A/N.: Okay, finished! Sooooorry for skipping Jiraiya vs. Orochimaru fight, if someone was waiting for it. I am not good at writing fight scenes and as you may have noticed, I'm not good at updating regularly either, so I didn't want to slow the action down anymore. It's possible that I'll add an epilogue though, but don't know when.**

 **Thanks for staying with me and for reading my story! I really hope you'd leave reviews now when it's finished so I could finally get to know what you liked and what you didn't. I invite you to read my other stories as well. They're mostly one-shots about the Uchiha family, but I wrote some on different topic too, so check it out!**

 **Have a nice life everyone:)**


	10. Epilogue

**Here is the promised epilogue:) enjoy!**

Fugaku was piercing the statue in front of him with an intense stare. The ceremony finished around ten minutes ago, yet he still couldn't bring himself to move from the spot. He was just standing under that damn tree surrounded by those damn people who didn't give a fuck about the tragedy that just happened.

…of course he was unfair. People did care. After all, you don't lose your beloved Hokage every day. But they just… didn't get it. The Fourth Hokage was dead, but for Fugaku it was just a surface. Because the man who died along with his wife… That very man was his friend. And this was the problem, because _they_ just didn't get IT.

Minato was now looking at him from his portrait, his features serious and blank. Fugaku had no idea how his friend ever managed to make such a face, but apparently he did at least once while taking this photo. It was so artificial… that he felt an urge to smash the frame to the ground. But he was a clan leader. He couldn't.

A heavy hand squeezed his shoulder suddenly. He blinked and eyed a newcomer unfavorably. Someone dared to disturb his heartbreaking contemplation, apparently not aware of consequences he would bare later…

Or maybe not. A pair of white shining eyes looked straight into his own, sharingan-red. They were as tired as his own, but certainly more collected at the moment.

"How are you?" a quiet murmur escaped the newcomer's lips. Fugaku looked back at the statue and let his eyelids fall. He let out a long heavy sigh and rested his head on the tree trunk.

"How do you think?" he managed finally with a harsh whisper.

"It has been a dark day, without doubt" Hiashi leaned against the tree.

"Why are you even here?" Fugaku mumbled softly.

"I was looking for you."

"What for?"

"I intended to talk to you. It should be obvious" he said irritated.

"I'm fine."

"I can see just how fine you are, fool."

Yes, he could and Fugaku knew it. He just needed someone to unleash his anger on and Hiashi happened to be the first person that approached him.

"He's dead" he breathed through clenched teeth. "Dead. And I wasn't there for him. I wasn't even nearby."

"I was not either. Get a hold on yourself, Fugaku. You could not be. And even if you had been, I strongly doubt Minato would have accepted your help. If there had been even a way to help him back there. It was his decision as the Hokage and you could not do anything."

He knew it. But… hearing this from somebody else was more refreshing than repeating it in his own head for the last two days.

"How are _you_?" he asked after a while, opening his eyes.

"Quite fine, I would say" Hiashi shrugged lightly. "At least as fine as I can be after losing two friends and four of my clansmen."

"I'm sorry."

"The Kyuubi attack was unexpected, even less now when the war ended. The village lost vigilance too early" he paused for a moment. "Or maybe we did not. Maybe it truly was too sudden."

"You know what exactly happened, don't you?" Fugaku asked quietly.

"I do. I heard from the Third."

"And?"

"…and what?"

"What did he tell you?" their eyes met for a long moment, before he continued. "What did he tell you about the child?"

"He did not let you take custody of him, did he?"

"Of course he didn't" the sharingan gleamed once again, when Fugaku lowered his sight.

"It is not about you being an Uchiha, understand this. Taking him under your care would be a political disaster for the Uchiha. You do realize that some people blame your clan for this attack."

"We are not responsible for it-"

"I know you are not and I will defend you, know this much" he interrupted. "But Sarutobi simply cannot give you Naruto. Actually, he would not give it to me either" he finished quietly.

"… _you_ wanted to…"

"It is Minato's son. But there is no chance either of us would take him in. Blame our names. He is going to be put into the orphanage, as far as I know."

"What about Jiraiya?"

"He left."

"…he what?"

"He _left_. He is now going to deal with his little boy's death on his own, spying and looking for any information Konoha may need. He did not even try to pretend he would wait and attend the ceremony."

"That damn idiot… If anybody would be allowed to adopt Naruto, it would be him and he just…" he clenched his fists feeling frustration raising inside his chest. "Bastard."

"He has always been like this" Hiashi murmured. "He will regret it one day and he knows it. So why not let him? If he wants it so badly…"

They were observing the statue once again, not trying to break the silence. Very few people remained in the ceremony place, most of them leaving for every day errands and obligations. Many people lost their houses, many lost their families. There were countless orphans or supposedly-orphaned children looking for their parents. Special forces were still looking for people under the ruins, but all they were finding were dead bodies.

"It's been a while since we talked, hasn't it?" Fugaku opened his mouth.

"A couple of months" Hiashi admitted.

"Why so long?"

"You tell me."

"I don't know anymore…" he shook his head tiredly. "But I heard you have a daughter."

"I do" he mumbled a little hoarsely.

"I'm sorry about your wife" Fugaku squeezed his arm. "It was unexpected."

"Childbirth is not a secure occurrence" he furrowed his eyebrows. "I should have understood it earlier."

"You couldn't know. She was a kunoichi and a strong one. I never thought it would end like this."

"Well, the Hyuuga elders are not astonished. They are already looking for a new bride for me."

"Idiots."

"But Hinata needs a mother" he sighed heavily. "So it is possibly for the best" he thought for a moment. "What about you?"

"About me?"

"Am I mistaken that your family enlarged? My elders were offended when they discovered that you was blessed with the second son while I have only one daughter by now."

"Oh…" Fugaku blinked, finally understanding what his friend meant.

"They will attend the Academy together" Hiashi continued. "Hinata, Naruto and your boy. What is his name? I cannot recall."

"Sasuke" he murmured looking away.

"How is Itachi feeling in a new role?"

"He is delighted. He doesn't let his little brother out of his sight and he sleeps in one room with him."

"And you are not glad about it?"

"Did I say I'm not glad about it?"

"You do not look like you are."

"Don't give me a hard time now, I really don't need it after everything that happened just lately."

"When I am looking at you now, I cannot help the impression that you mean far more than just the Kyuubi" Hiashi pierced him with his look.

"If I admit you're right, will you just let it go for now…?"

"For now" he nodded reluctantly. He bit his lower lip. "We really did not talk for too long. I do not even remember how I learnt about Mikoto's pregnancy."

"Probably from Kushina" Fugaku sighed. "She couldn't keep her big mouth shut as always."

"The council meeting is tomorrow. Will you attend?" he changed the subject.

"I have to. And so do you. The village needs to be rebuilt. As far as I know, they're going to relocate clans' compounds."

"I cannot wait" Hiashi raised his eyebrows, standing straight. "In that case, we will have to figure out a new way for you to sneak into my house unnoticeably."

"We will manage somehow" Fugaku sent one last look towards the portrait and finally moved from under the tree. "I think I should head back home now" he murmured, directing his steps to the cemetery gate. Hiashi walked just next to him and they continued their way in silence.

A short man observed them with his experienced eyes. He saw the Hyuuga and the Uchiha clanheads walking away together in quiet agreement. He saw them waving to each other, when they parted on the crossroads. He saw Hiashi pointing to a little boy, who was running towards Fugaku and calling him to wait. The Uchiha leader stopped and let the child catch up to him. He then nodded once again to Hiashi and reached for the boy's hand. They walked away together.

To think that those were the two boys that needed to learn what teamwork meant. After the long war the ancient Uchiha-Hyuuga conflict, that had once constituted one of most important matters in Konoha, seemed trivial and superficial. But there came new problems: the aftermath of the long exhausting war, the destroyed village, the orphaned children… He looked down at the bundle he was holding in his arms. A child with six whisker marks on his cheeks was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the cruel world waiting for him to grow up in.

But who knows what the future may bring…?

 **A/N.: It may be an AU to some point, but not too much. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you liked it!**


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